G. W. Ferris would no doubt be pleased and amazed to see the wide variety of amusement rides that have been developed since he invented his famous Wheel in 1893. Amusement parks have become popular attractions in major cities across the United States and abroad. Certain amusement rides that cater to adult thrill seekers have become increasingly exciting, ever striving to hurl passengers at faster speeds and with greater acceleration. In recent years, very fast roller coasters and very high free-fall amusement rides have found increasing popularity as adult high-speed attractions.
The increase in the popularity of high-speed adult amusement rides has been accompanied by a general increase in the popularity of adult thrill seeking activities. Bungee jumping, acrobatic ski jumping, wind surfing, sky diving, and other activities that involve a controlled free-fall have become immensely popular in the past decade or so. For example, the activity known as "sky surfing" is a relatively new thrill seeking activity in which a sky diver leaps from an airplane with a surf-like board attached to his or her feet. The board is used as an air foil which allows a skilled sky surfer to perform acrobatic feats while plummeting towards the Earth. Amusement park operators often find it advantageous to capitalize on the popularity of other popular thrill seeking activities by developing amusement rides that simulate the sensations experienced by partakers of such activities. As a result, amusement rides that allow riders to indulge in an actual or simulated free-fall experience have become very popular.
Of course, amusement rides must meet requirements that many other thrill seeking activities do not. In addition to the obvious safety concerns, an amusement park operator is critically concerned with the financial aspects of operating an amusement ride. In general, an amusement ride operator desires a ride that lots of people want to ride, and that can accommodate a fast mover of patrons. Thus, an amusement ride should not only be fun to ride, but should also be quick to complete, quick to reset, and so thrilling that patrons are willing to pay a substantial sum of money to experience the ride not only once, but over and over again. Much effort goes into developing new amusement rides that meet these often competing objectives.
Many other factors bear on the profitability of owning and operating an amusement ride. In general, it is preferable for an amusement ride to be easily transportable. It is therefore preferable for a ride to be easy to erect and disassemble into relatively light weight sections that are easy to pack into standard transportation containers. It is also advantageous for an amusement ride to be energy efficient, easy to load with passengers, easy to operate, and inexpensive to maintain. In addition, ground space and lighting are expensive to procure in an amusement park setting. Therefore, it is advantageous for a ride to occupy a minimum of ground space. Consequently, so-called "vertical real estate" amusement rides, i.e., rides that are deployed primarily in vertical configurations, are desirable from the operator's standpoint. Moreover, many riders enjoy both the height and the free-fall sensation that accompany the typical vertical real estate amusement ride.
Bungee jumping is an example of vertical real estate amusement ride that gives a jumper a free-fall experience. Bungee jumping, however, is not a suitable activity for certain amusement park patrons such as small children and all but the most daring adults. Indeed, safe bungee jumping requires some skill, as jumpers have been known to occasionally fall at an angle with respect to the bungee cord such that the jumper is dangerously whipped when the cord becomes taut. There is therefore a need for an amusement ride that, like bungee jumping, gives the riders the sensation of a free-fall from a substantial height, but is suitable for a greater number of amusement park patrons than is bungee jumping.
Other free-fall amusement rides use cables to suspend a passenger carriage that is raised to substantial height and then released. The passenger carriage must be decelerated to a stop at the bottom of the descent, for example through deployment of a parachute aided by mechanical brakes. These rides fail to make maximum use of the potential energy embodied in the initial height of the passenger carriage because the carriage must be safely decelerated prior to reaching the bottom of the decent. It is generally expensive to construct and maintain braking devices for such free-fall rides. In addition, these rides often take a considerable time to reset, as the passenger carriage must be raised by reeling in the cables after each ride.
Another type of free-fall ride includes a passenger carriage that travels on an "L" or "U" shaped track that curves from a substantially vertical to a substantially horizontal configuration at the bottom of the decent. A passenger carriage is raised to the top of the track and then released. This type of ride maximizes the use of the potential energy embodied in the initial height of the passenger carriage, as the passenger carriage need not be decelerated prior to reaching the bottom to the descent. However, this type of ride also uses considerably more ground space than a truly vertical real estate amusement ride. It may also take a relatively long time to reset such a ride.
Swinging pendulum amusement rides have been in use for many years. These rides usually use a rotating tire to frictionally engage a free-swinging passenger carriage. The rotating tire gives the carriage a little push each time the carriage passes by the rotating tire, thereby urging the carriage into successively higher arcs. This type of pendulum ride is typically limited to a radial length of approximately forty feet or so, and may swing the passenger carriage through a complete 360 degree arc. However, the maximum height and resulting speed of the passenger carriage is such that the ride is somewhat less than thrilling for some riders. Indeed, such rides are typically counted among the rides in an amusement park considered appropriate for younger riders. Motion sickness caused by the repetitive motion of such a ride can also be a problem for some riders. Moreover, such a swinging pendulum amusement ride is relatively slow to complete because it takes many passes to intermittently urge the passenger carriage into its maximum arc.
A substantially more thrilling swing-type amusement ride is described in Kitchen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,906. A support tower and a somewhat shorter and separate launch tower are spaced a distance apart. A cable is attached near the top of the support tower at one end, and to a passenger at the other. A launch line is removably attached to the passenger at one end and near the top of the launch tower at the other. The passenger is raised to a height of thirty feet or more when the launch line is reeled in at the launch tower. The launch line is then detached from the rider who is released to swing freely. The angle to which the passenger may be raised is limited to ninety degrees because, beyond ninety degrees, the cable would develop slack as the passenger fell vertically when initially dropped. The height to which the passenger may be raised is therefore limited to the height of the support tower. The cable swing ride described by Kitchen et al. also suffers from the disadvantage of a long reset time as it is difficult to stop a passenger's swinging back and forth once released. It also requires a substantial amount of ground space, as the launch tower and the support tower must be spaced apart by a distance approaching the length of the cable.
A "jump-over" amusement ride is described in Harris, U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,788. A boom is divided by a pivot into an extended end and a shorter end. The shorter end of the boom includes a movable counterweight. A passenger carriage is pivotably attached to the extended end of the boom. The boom is attached at its pivot to an axle that is supported above the ground at a height slightly greater than the length of the shorter end of the boom. Passengers are loaded into the passenger carriage and the counterweight is adjusted to nearly balance the boom. The passengers may then "jump" to rotate the boom and thereby vault the passengers up, across, and down on the other side of the axle (i.e., jump-over). The passengers may then vault themselves back over the axle to the side on which they started. The amusement ride described by Harris is substantially less thrilling than a true free-fall ride because the boom must be nearly balanced by the counterweight so that the passengers can easily raise the boom, which must necessarily return slowly. The passenger carriage therefore travels slowly in such a ride.
There is therefore a need for an improved amusement ride that gives the riders the sensation of a free-fall from a substantial height, and that is suitable for a wide range of amusement park patrons.
There is also a need for an improved free-fall amusement ride that has relatively short completion and reset times.
There is also a need for an improved free-fall amusement ride that efficiently uses vertical real estate.
There is also a need for an improved free-fall amusement ride that is efficient and easy to operate and maintain.
There is also a need for an improved free-fall amusement ride that is easy to erect, disassemble, and transport.